A majority of Nebraska's state lawmakers have signed a letter in support of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was signed this week by 29 of Nebraska's 49 state senators. It urges federal approval of the pipeline, which would carry 830,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

Nebraska has been a stronghold for pipeline opponents, including environmentalists and some landowners. A district court judge last month invalidated a state law that was used to approve the project, but the state is appealing.

Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, who supports the project, gathered signatures for the letter. It was signed by 22 Republicans and seven Democrats in the officially nonpartisan, one-house Legislature.